Fashion Photos Against Social Injustice (Slideshow)

Style Quotidien, an online fashion magazine, recently released a new photo series focused on the disconnect between wealthy consumers and third world factory workers. The series, “Balance of Power,” was shot by photographer and environmental artist Olivier Rieu, and aims to draw attention to unsustainable consumer demand and the perils of cheap mass production of goods.

The magazine describes:

“There is such a disconnect when we walk into a clean and pretty store to buy the items so artfully displayed in the window. Would we feel as comfortable with our purchases if we had to stare directly into the eyes of the underpaid, hungry and tired workers who made them?”

In order to highlight this incongruity, the photos are shot in the style of a fashion photo shoot—but with the uncomfortable, inhumane history of the clothes’ production present in the background.

For the shoot, Parisian stylist Céline Seguin aimed to dress the model in styles that allude to and mimic the most iconic designers in fashion. The makeup artist was Sandrine Bohair and the stylist was Kim Chincholle.

What do you think of this photo series? Does it effectively speak against social injustice? Does it glamorize inequity, or does the contrast within the photos deliver a powerful message? Tell us in the comments!

You don't know where your clothes are made. In order for a designer to claim their clothes were made in a fair trade or European country, they just need to have the garment sent to these countries where the garment will be stitched with a couple of stitches and the label can legally read: Made in ____. It hides the real truth of the garment's manufacture as that of being in a place where the workers are underpaid or exploited.